Prices of 851 essential drug formulations were cut, mostly in the 5-40 per cent range, in the past 2 years, the government said today.

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Mansukh L Mandaviya said the government has cut the prices of 234 essential drugs by up to 5 per cent.

Prices of another 134 formulations were reduced in the range of 5-10 per cent, and of more 98 products by 10-15 per cent.

Another set of 98 formulations saw prices reduced by 15-20 per cent. In addition to that 93 formulations saw prices drop by 20-25 per cent, the minister said.

He further said that NPPA (National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority) also slashed prices of 65 products ranging between 25-30 per cent, 46 products between 30-35 per cent, 24 products in the range of 35-40 per and 59 products over 40 per cent.

In a separate reply, Mandaviya said turnover of scheduled formulations stood at Rs 19,877 crore for the year ended December 31.

Growth rate for such formulations declined by 3 per cent last year as compared with a growth of 2 per cent in 2016 and 13 per cent in 2015, the minister said.